Parenthood
by Crowmunculus
Summary: Any parent would tell you how hard it is to raise kids, with all the little mishaps, and all the not so little ones. But as Jack and Maddie could tell you, despite the dirty diapers, messy clothes, and scraped knees, it’s all worth it in the end.
1. First Birthday

**A/N: First things first, I might as well get this out of the way:**

**This fic was written for a contest at the Danny Phantom Real Fans Club on deviantART, one of the biggest fanclubs for the show with over 175 members. The club's rules are simple: Love the show, and treat other fans with the respect they deserve. So, anyone who is sick of the fanwar and happens to have a dA account, feel free to join! We're always happy to have new members :D**

…**With that shameless plug done, onto the real author's note. **

**I've had this floating around my head for about a month now, and finally I found the inspiration to write it down. Probably that deadline sneaking up…anyways, this fic is sappy enough to rot out your teeth, so watch out, and bring a toothbrush. There's no **_**real**_** pairings in this, I tried to focus more on the bond between the members of the Fenton family than any of the other relationships in the show.**

**All in all, a set of drabbles each featuring a different aspect of Jack and Maddie's life parenting their little demon spawn-er, children. Some are longer, some are shorter, but all are sickeningly sweet and filled to the brim with cute. **

**Reviewers will be showered with disgustingly adorable paper hearts; any and all feedback is welcomed!**

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**Drabble One  
First Birthday**

A variety of brightly colored streamers were strung across the room, draping across the ceiling beams and drooping into the faces of the unlucky guests. Balloons were literally everywhere, littering the floor, attached to the walls, and floating on ribbons tethered to chairs, also a significant annoyance for the partygoers. There was hardly any room to maneuver oneself, seeing as the rainbow of decorations took up all the space.

The guest of honor was seated in a lofty high chair, completely and totally oblivious to the crowd gathered around him, instead focused entirely on the colorful garlands of paper crisscrossing across the room like an enormous technicolor spiderweb.

That was, until the massive confection of a cake was carted over to the table, towering over him and obscuring his line of sight. Curious, the child observed the pastry, before his father lit the solitary candle situated on the top. Mesmerized, Danny watched the flickering flame dance atop the wick-and then catch on one of the streamers, igniting it and sending it flying up towards the roof in a bright orange blaze.

Seeing the large and dangerous fire growing and burning in front of him, Danny _screamed, _joining in with the panicked visitors who were currently stampeding around in a frenzy, slamming into walls, one another, and eventually tripping over the plethora of balloons. He didn't stop screaming, in fact, until the sprinkler system the Fentons had installed years ago during the first little incident kicked into gear and doused the growing inferno.

Years later, he wouldn't remember a thing, and his parents weren't too keen on reminding him of the episode, perfectly fine keeping the truth of the embarrassing occurrence in the dark.

Danny never did question the suspicious burn marks on the photographs from that eventful day all those years ago, but eventually decided he was probably better off not knowing.


	2. Because I Said So

**Drabble Two  
****Because I Said So!**

Five-year-old Jasmine Fenton pouted, glaring up towards her much taller mother. Gesturing emphatically, she waved her arms around, complaining, "It's my room, and I like it messy! Why do you care, it's mine, not yours!"

Sighing exasperatedly, Maddie resisted the urge to strangle her oldest child. Sometimes she was relatively certain that the only reason she hadn't already was that she was just so darn cute-a trait all children had, a defense mechanism allowing them to survive at least until puberty. "Jazz, this is my house, and my rules. Until you move out, you're going to have to live by them,"

Shrieking in her bratty, high-pitched voice, she responded with, "But it's MY room! You have yours, this is mine! Why do you make me clean it if it's not yours?"

Utterly frustrated, and on her wits end, the matriarch replied with a short, angry bark, "Because I said so! Now clean your room!" before marching out of the filthy bedroom, slamming the door shut on her way out.

"And why do you get to slam doors? I can't!"

Still steaming, she stomped out into the living room, before realizing what she'd just said. Horrified, she ran into her own room, running into Jack and sobbing into his chest.

"Maddie, what's wrong?" Shocked at the seemingly random outburst, Jack gently patted his wife on the back, trying to calm her down.

Still in hysterics, she replied, "I just told Jazz 'Because I said so'!", before breaking out into tears again.

Gasping, Jack held her tighter. It was worse than he could have ever imagined! "It's all right honey, we both knew it would happen eventually."

But that didn't soothe her fears. "I'm turning into my mother!" She screeched, clutching at her hair. It was her nightmare come true, the day she'd dreaded her entire life, the day all young couples feared would eventually come. From that moment on, she vowed to never utter the terrible curse ever again.

However, she would break that solemn promise the very next day, when Danny learned how to activate the house's defense system, and she would continue to break it for many years to come.

Ah, the joys of parenting.

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**Based off of a story from my aunt, about the first time she had to utter the horrible phrase to me. **


	3. Danny Discovers the VCR

**Drabble Three  
Danny Discovers the VCR  
(Why Parents Should Never Attempt to Multitask)**

Snack time at the Fenton abode always meant something healthy…either that, or something radioactive. The young parents were especially careful about what went down the gullets of their young, even moreso after little Daniel swallowed a rather expensive watch.

Fruit was always on the menu, and often a replacement for dinner if and when the actual meal came back to life and attacked. Their young son Danny munched on a banana thoughtfully, carefully watched by his father. Didn't want another little accident, now did they?

Suddenly, the loud shrill ring of a telephone graced their ears, the device shrieking from somewhere in the next room. "I'll get that!" Jack shouted out to no one in particular, completely forgetting his son and his last misadventure with inedible objects.

No longer under his father's watchful eye, the giggling toddler scurried out into the living room, looking for something fun to do. Prowling around the couch, he spotted it, the perfect game-waddling up to the VCR, he promptly smashed the fruit into the slot, reveling in the disgusting sounds and mushing it around until it was completely concealed within the device. Still smiling happily, Danny ran off to the other room, taking his seat again the moment his dad came back into the room.

"Well hey, look at that, you're all done!" he exclaimed, beaming at the wiggling child.

"Ice cream now?" he questioned, still smiling innocently, betraying his guilt.

"Sure thing, son!" Jack boomed, leading Danny over to the freezer to reward his healthy appetite with vanilla ice cream and nature's greatest gift: fudge.

It wasn't until a week later that they found out the true fate of the unfortunate fruit, and even then only because it had begun to smell so bad that it stunk up the whole house.

Jack learned to never leave Danny alone again, but no amount of parental supervision would stop the mischievous youngster from shoving a pea up his nose later in the week, lodging it so far into his sinus that it had to be surgically removed.

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**I'm sorry to say that this is based off of something I myself did when Danny's age X3**


	4. Arachnophobia

**Drabble Four  
Arachnophobia**

Such a peaceful night. The soft chirp of crickets, the gentle glow of the moon, the-

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Bolting upright out of bed, the parents panicked and sprinted down the hallway, Maddie in the lead. Skidding to a halt outside their daughter's room, she flung the door open haphazardly, storming inside with Jack close behind.

Whipping out a smoldering ecto gun, Jack shouted, "Freeze, ghost scum!" wildly aiming the weapon around the room before spying the culprit in the dim light. Setting down the handgun, he stooped to his knees, scooping up a small, dime-sized spider, which scuttled frantically around his hand.

"Why Jazzy, it's just a little spider! He's probably more scared than you are," he explained with a slight, sleep-deprived smile. Jazz just continued to bawl, flinging herself into her mother's arms.

"I-It crawled over m-my face!" she wept, shuddering in revulsion at the memory before burying herself further into her mother's hold, still sobbing hysterically.

Opening the window and releasing the panicked arachnid, Jack stooped next to his daughter and explained gently, "Now Jazzypants, he wasn't going to hurt you. He was just a little guy! It was probably all just an accident, he didn't know you were sleeping there."

Sniffling a little, she turned and faced him before lamenting, "I knew it wouldn't hurt me, but I was still scared. I'm sorry for waking you up and," and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, "Thanks for making it go away."

Jack beamed, hugging back. "Now get some rest."

The parents retreated back to their room, falling asleep almost instantly. Jazz, however, stayed up all night researching arachnophobia, and by the next morning had completely overcome her fear by using psychology.

And that's how she decided on her future profession of psychologist.

She never did get over her fear of clowns, though, but no amount of therapy could ever fix that.


	5. Safety Lectures

**A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't responded to any reviews yet, but seeing as the deadline for this is 11:59 PST tonight and I still have six to go, I _really _need to hurry XD **

**I WILL respond to them as soon as I'm done, though, it means a _lot _that people are willing to review for these, let alone read them. Thanks for reading, everyone, you guys rock :D**

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**Drabble Five  
Safety Lectures**

As he hopped aboard the shiny blue bicycle, Danny smiled so widely it felt as if his cheeks would fall off. Successfully riding a two-wheeler was yet another small, yet very significant rite of passage in a youngster's life, right up there with learning to swim and learning how to tie shoes. And Danny at eight years old, while being a few years late, was still very proud that training wheels were no longer a necessity.

Completely ignoring the mandatory safety speech presented by his parents, he shot off, speeding along at what seemed the speed of light for the child. Zipping along with the wind, he shouted out joyously, he was riding a bicycle, he was actually doing it!

Flying from off of the sidewalk, Danny biked out onto the street, zigzagging in random patterns and just enjoying the feeling of freedom that came along with the ride. He was so focused on his victory that he never noticed the large and dangerous truck bearing up directly behind him.

"HONK!"

Terrified, he stared helplessly as the truck came closer, closer, and closer still, and like a deer in the headlights, he was too frightened to even move. Moments before he would have become a Danny pancake, he snapped to his senses and powered the two wheeled contraption out of harm's way, pedaling furiously.

But he wasn't out of the woods yet. In his frantic escape, his shoelace became tangled up in the gears of the bike, which skidded to a screeching halt, catapulting him clear across the sidewalk and into a rosebush, leaving his shoe behind.

Later on, Danny was subjected to a long and embarrassing lecture on car safety and responsible biking, his parents never knowing that it wasn't even necessary, as the two-hundred and sixty-nine large thorns embedded in his backside proved lesson enough.

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**Anyone else notice that I tend to be meaner to Danny than to Jazz? x3**


	6. First Date

**A/N: HAY LOOK GUYS IT'S RANDOM JOE! 8D**

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**Drabble Six  
First Date**

Nervous was close, but didn't adequately describe the fluttering in Jazz's stomach. More like scared half to death; this was her first real date, with a guy she _really _liked, and she didn't want to mess it up.

Anxiously, she fumbled with a tube of lipstick, fidgeting tensely and accidentally smearing a long line of red from her lips all the way across the face. Panicking, she desperately ran to the bathroom to clean the smudge away, before tripping over her own feet and unintentionally knocked all the makeup off of the table, sending it clattering to the floor. Why must she be so klutzy on such an important night, why?!

"_Well, look at it this way," _she thought to herself, _"at least things can't get any worse,"_

And, as always, it did.

_Ding-dong! _

The doorbell sounded evilly at just the wrong moment, an evil omen announcing Jasmine's untimely demise. She was in no way ready, she was a complete and utter wreck, what was she going to do?

She'd just have to rely on her father to bide some time. Sighing, she picked herself up and headed towards the bathroom, hoping for a miracle.

---

The door opened, and a scrawny blonde teenager scuttled inside, glancing nervously up at the threatening figure of Mr. Fenton. Noting the heavy aluminum bat clutched in the man's grasp, Joe gulped, a sense of dread washing over him. He couldn't die, he was too young to die, he was only thirteen!

Glaring down at the shrimpy towheaded male, Jack boomed in a threatening voice, "So. You're the boy who wants to date my daughter."

It wasn't a question so much as a statement, but Joe nodded vigorously anyways, hoping it was the right thing to do in such a situation. Jazz's father, however, took no notice, and simply continued his monologue.

"I am going to make this very clear. I love my daughter, and if you do anything to hurt her, I will tear off your limbs and _beat _you to death with them. Do you understand?"

Eyes wide as saucers, a very pale Joe squeaked out a reply, throat too constricted with terror to produce a comprehensible answer. Shaking like a leaf, he nodded once more, for good measure.

"Good. Because I will _know _if you mistreat her, and _I know where you live._"

What little blood left in his face drained immediately, and Joe struggled to keep himself from passing out on the Fenton's threshold. As the uneasy and awkward silence grew between them, Joe prayed for something to break the feeling of tension, anything-

And then Jazz walked down the steps and into the room, looking positively stunning. "I'm ready to go!" she announced in a chipper voice, walking over to her father and planting a loving kiss on his cheek. "Bye Daddy! I'll see you later," she said, before gripping Joe's hand and leading her semi-conscious date out the door.

Later on, Jazz would explain the date as 'memorable', though she never did say exactly why, or why she never went out with poor Joe again.

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**Ah, the "Hurt-her-and-I'll-kill-you" father/unfortunate male suitor talk. Such a classic ;D**


	7. Driving Lessons

**A/N: Okay, I kind of cheated here. I'm not driving yet and don't know a great deal about it, though I'll start learning come September. So, I skipped over most of the details x3 **

**Also, Danny is 15½ here because that's how old you have to be in my state to get a permit. I'm not sure about other places, so I cheated once more and simply plugged in the values.**

**I'm a horrible person XD**

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**Drabble Seven  
Driving Lessons**

Fifteen and a half. Finished with his final exam. Ready to drive. The day had finally come.

Gulping nervously, Danny stepped into the vehicle, sitting in the driver's seat. It was a strange feeling, knowing that he would be the one in control of an incredibly dangerous machine that could potentially kill him, not to mention others as well. Sure, it wasn't the first time he'd been behind the wheel, he'd piloted the Specter Speeder many a time, and had successfully landed a space shuttle once during the eventful summer of freshman year. But somehow, this was different. More significant, even if his life wasn't on the line this time around.

His mother sat down next to him, in the passenger seat. It was just as strange for her as it was for Danny; her little boy was driving, almost all grown up. Soon, Jazz would go off to college, and Danny not too long after…it was utterly bizarre, it almost felt as if it had just been yesterday that he'd just been learning to talk, and yet at the same time it was near impossible to comprehend that that same little boy was now this young adult beside her.

Then Danny turned the key in the ignition, effectively shaking her out of her reverie. When he held the key in place, she snatched his hand, scolding, "Danny, don't just hold it there! You'll destroy the motor!"

Humiliated, he released the key, the awful grinding sounds halting at once. Smiling tensely, he started it up again, properly this time, ready to follow his mother's instruction.

"Okay, much better. Now put it into gear, and _slowly _push on the gas." Maddie was worried now, if Danny had messed up so simple a task, then was he really ready to operate a car? Maybe he had just been nervous and screwed up, and would be fine now. Yeah, let's go with that one.

Fidgeting somewhat, Danny started the engine again, and after a moment of indecision, twitched and _slammed _on the gas, rocketing them forward at speeds no beginning driver should ever reach.

"Daaannnnnyyyyyyyyyy!!!" his mother screamed, grabbing the wheel and steering them around the simple course, preventing disaster. Oh hell, apparently the kid had inherited his father's lead foot, just as she'd feared.

Frozen solid with dread, Danny simply sat there, petrified, as his mother frantically wheeled them around orange traffic cones. After they haphazardly ran over one of the innocent cones, he snapped back into focus, snatching the wheel and attempting to save their sorry behinds.

Key word, attempting. Due to the sudden jerking motion of the wheel, the car spun out of control before smashing into a wall and, of course, stopping abruptly, the momentum slamming the occupant's craniums forward to crash into the conveniently placed airbags.

After a few stunned moments of shocked silence, Maddie mumbled through the protective padding, "I think you need more practice," to which her very sheepish son had no answer.

Even though he may have looked grown up, Danny was really still just a clumsy little kid after all.


	8. All Grown Up

**A/N: Unlike the others, this doesn't really fit into the humor category…d'you think sap would count as one?**

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**Drabble Eight  
All Grown Up**

"Jeeze, Jazz, what did you fill these things with, rocks?" Danny questioned, trying to lighten up the mood a little. His sister was going off to college, far away to Stanford in California. It'd been a hard choice for her, to move so far away from home, but after much prodding from her family, she finally decided that she would go pursue her dream, regardless of the distance.

"Books." she replied simply, still caught up in the fuzzy haze of disbelief. When she'd been going over possible schools, buying tickets for the plane ride there, even packing, none of it had seemed real. But now here she was, waiting in the airport terminal, about to leave home forever.

She didn't know how she should be feeling. Happy? Sad? Or some odd little mixture of both? She'd wanted to go to Stanford her entire life, and had been overjoyed upon receiving her acceptance letter, but now she was having second thoughts. At the moment, she wanted nothing more than to cry into her mother's shoulder like she did when she was little, but decided against it; she was an adult now, and had to act like one.

Danny, too, was having trouble dealing with the situation. Jazz was going away, his big sister was going to leave and never truly come back home again. As much as he may have hated to admit it, he loved her, he was used to having her around, and he didn't want her to go.

But even stranger was how it put his own future in perspective. Soon enough, he'd be out of high school, frantically sending off application letters like Jazz had done a few months before. In just a short while, that'd be _him _preparing to board the next flight, and he'd be the one to fly away and never come home.

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, he wondered, "_How does she deal with it?"_

The parents weren't taking it very well either. Their oldest child was all grown up, perfectly capable of defending herself and making her way in the big bad world. She didn't need them anymore, and it left a hollow sensation in their stomachs, a sick, bitter taste in their mouths.

But at the same time, it meant they'd succeeded. They'd raised a wonderful daughter who'd matured into an intelligent young woman, now ready to take on every challenge life had to throw at her and prove what she was made of. Their daughter was going off to change the world, and they couldn't be more proud.

On all sides, it was bittersweet, leaving the comfortable sense of familiarity behind and embracing change, a new future. But Jazz knew that she could take on whatever was ahead, and her family knew not to worry (too much) for her.

She was all grown up now, after all.


	9. Worth It

**A/N: Well, this is it, the last drabble…again, more sappy than funny, sorry ;**

**Very short, but as I said before I'm in a rush…I might make it longer later X3**

**Also needs some editing-this was written literally at the last second, and isn't as good as it could be.**

**Oh well. X)**

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**Drabble Nine  
Worth It**

He had his father's eyes.

When Danny stared into his son's eyes, it was like seeing a reflection of his own, the same bright sky blue so familiar to him. No matter how many time he would see the infant, he would still be amazed at the simple fact that he was a _father, _that he had a son.

And every time, it was always so hard to leave him, even if it was only for a while, even if it was just for the work day. Fortunately, he had the best babysitters around, they were amongst the few people on earth he'd trust with his child.

The drive to their house was familiar, a route he'd taken a thousand times over and knew so well that he could practically get their blindfolded. Walking up to the front porch, Danny rang the FentonWorks doorbell, greeting his parents as they opened the door.

It was a familiar routine, every weekday he'd drop off his son, every weekday Jazz's daughter would peer owlishly at him, forever fascinated by the infant. Every weekday, the elder Fentons would watch their children pull out of the driveway and leave for their respective jobs, entrusting their own children in their care.

Every weekday, they would watch the two youngsters play together, and every weekday, they would say the same thing: "We did well."


End file.
